Sleep is something that everyone needs plenty of on a regular basis. At Randolph Center for Dental Excellence, we understand how frustrating it is when you are unable to sleep or have interrupted sleep patterns. You can feel unrested, unhappy and uncomfortable all day and it can affect your home, work and social life. For many people, the problem is sleep apnea. This disorder, which causes a person to stop breathing while they are asleep, is not only disruptive to the person with the disorder, but also anyone that sleeps with him or her. One of the largest symptoms of the disorder is snoring or gasping for breath, which can be very disruptive to anyone else in the room, making sleep difficult for everyone. People with this disorder can stop breathing for ten seconds or longer. This puts them at an elevated risk of premature death in their sleep, stroke and heart attack.

The Reason for Suffocation

There are many reasons that a person suffers from sleep apnea. This deadly disease which causes suffocation is the result of a blocked airway. The reason for the blockage could be a variety of things including enlarged tonsils or tongue, narrow airway, enlarged neck, mismatched upper and lower jaw or obesity. Regardless of the reason of the obstruction, the person trying to sleep is forced to gasp for air as their oxygen is limited. For many patients the gasping for air or very loud snoring can occur more than 100 times per night, which could be difficult for everyone in the room.

Do you Suffer from Sleep Apnea?

In order to be formally diagnosed with sleep apnea, you need to see a professional that can perform a sleep study. Before you do that, however, we encourage you to take our self-tests to determine if it is likely that you are suffering from this disorder. If after taking the self-tests, you feel as if you might suffer from a form of sleep apnea, we encourage you to contact us or your general physician about undergoing an in depth sleep study. If you do not have a doctor that can perform the study, we are happy to refer you to our network of sleep physicians that can perform the study for you.

Getting Treatment

At Randolph Center for Dental Excellence, we are proud to offer a variety of treatment options for sleep apnea aside from the traditional method of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. We understand that the CPAP can be cumbersome, making it very difficult to sleep for you and your partner. Our alternatives include oral appliances, ResMed Narval and SomnoDent, each of which are less intrusive, making sleep not only safer, but also more comfortable. We are members of the Academy of Clinical Sleep Disorders of Dentistry and our practice is also certified by the Sleep Optima Network. We take pride in our top quality care that we provide our patients with, to help them overcome the difficulties that sleep apnea can cause.